BAJONeed for Speed Rivals is brought to us by new developer Ghost Games, with a little help from Criterion - the makers of the Burnout series and some of the best, and more recent, Need For Speed games. In fact, 80% of Criterion now work at Ghost.

HEXThe campaign is split between two playable factions: cops and racers. The presentation is incredibly polished, but it's still full of all the usual cheesy posturing... "Street racers are all about freedom and the cops are a necessary evil!" I kind of like how over the top it is, though.

BAJOYeah me too. This game reminded me a lot of Testdrive Unlimited. It's set in an open world that is populated by a mix of AI and human players, playing as either the cops or racers. As a racer, you can instantly challenge AI or other players to a head to head race by pressing a single button. And, as a racer, there are plenty of upgrades to look forward to as well.

HEXLikewise, a cop can start a pursuit by simply turning on their lights, and then the chaos begins. It's seamless how these events begin and end. It's quite an ambitious model to have all these interactions going on at once. There are times when you'll be a cop, hunting real life racers, which is just thrilling. I really like how you can get stuck in pursuits and races and chases with seemingly no end to them.

BAJOWe did have a few issues with lag, but that might've just been bad luck, or because of launch week. But there is one thing about this game which is a bit of a deal breaker for me personally, Hex, and that's that you can't actually start a race with a group of friends, or strangers, by going into a menu or a lobby - you have to physically find them on the map as far as I can tell. Mostly, everyone just drives around, completing their own single player challenges, and occasionally bumping into someone else. For all this promise of an "online immersive world", it's actually a pretty lonely experience.

HEXYeah, I mean, not everyone's going to have a big group of friends who all have this game to play with, so driving around looking for some human interaction can feel a little bit like there's a party happening somewhere and you're just not invited. Obviously, this wasn't Ghost's game design intention...

BAJOYeah, I like what they were trying to do, I just don't think it worked very well. I still haven't managed to race with more than one human at the same time, and it's such a shame because there's so much I like about this game. The world itself is incredible - full of long, wide open highways, narrow forest roads, bridges full of jumps, and seaside views.

HEXThe day-night cycle adds a lot to the atmosphere of the races too; and the weather and debris effects are lovely. Most of all I liked how easy it is to drive without hitting brick walls. There are shortcuts everywhere, and the GPS is so forgiving that as long as you're heading more or less in the right direction, it'll correct and just let you stay in the race. I did find, though, that you have to do quite a bit of mini-map checking as you drive though, and that takes away from the racing a little, because it's so distracting.

BAJOYeah. I mean, it's pretty common for open world racers, but I don't know - I found this time the more I trained myself to stop looking at that mini-map and just focus on the on the checkpoint markers and that wide driving line, the less I checked it. All the cars are responsive and handle quite well - maybe a little too well though, Hex. I found the drifting was just so easy in this game.

HEXI don't know, I think that's what they were going for - you know, a really fast-paced, arcadey racer that you can just jump into and have a blast in. I think they nailed that.

BAJOI don't know why they can't have both, though. I went back and played Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and within five minutes the drifting was just so much more interesting and engaging because it was harder - it just had that perfect amount of challenge to it.

HEXNo, but I think they've deliberately given this game a different focus though, Bajo. They've gone down that more arcadey path to play to the strength of those exciting chases between the street racers and the cops. I mean, personally I want to worry less about nailing the perfect corner and more about, you know, the other cars on the road.

BAJOI did have fun with all the car combat, and playing with their loadouts. EMPs, mines, that terrifying turbo, and my personal favourite - the shockwave.

HEXAs a racer avoiding the cops, I liked that the longer you stay on the streets before returning to your base, the more cash you can bank when you do. So there's a nice risk/reward element to it.

BAJOI yeah I like that too. But there is one thing that I didn't like, Hex, and I'm sorry, but I have to have a bit of a graphics rant. This is a great looking game - the half of it you can see. The whole game is locked at 30 frames per second across all platforms. And before you say you can't tell - you can totally tell, especially when wide corners are turning and you can see that background stuttering. It just doesn't make any sense! There is a way to make it go at 60 frames per second, but then it doubles the speed of the game! Like an old DOS game! It's crazy! Why not just let me have it? Especially on PC - there is no excuse for it. Just give me the frames. I want them. Let me unleash the power that I have in my PC. And while we're at it, what's with all the speed cameras flashing in my face every five seconds? They can go away too.

In fairness, just before we shot this review, I did find a way to lock time and frames at 60, but it was way too glitchy to be practical. One thing all this tinkering around did show was how beautiful this game can look.

HEXYes, well, frame rates aside, there is still a lot to like about this game. It's a convincing world, the racing is always tense, and the combat can cause such enjoyable chaos. I mean, this was like Burnout Cops and Robbers, and it takes from the best ideas from Hot Pursuit, which is one of our favourite racing games. I think it's worth an 8 out of 10.

BAJOYeah, look - I am warming to the game the more I play it, but I just think it's such a missed opportunity. The rare moments where you do interact with other players are so much fun, especially when you're that cop chasing the racers, but they just happen so rarely, so I find it difficult to recommend this as anything other than a competent single player experience. I'm giving it 6.5 out of 10 rubber chickens.

HEXWell, now that we finally have our new consoles, we asked Goose to take a look back at the generation that was.

Kommando Ando :

Mick :

Ant :

10 Jul 2014 11:14:27pm

Rating:
What a brilliant game! Realistic graphics thanks to the awesome frostbite 3 engine and non stop action. Choose between being a cop hell bound on catching the bad guys by taking them down or being a bad ass racer taking on anyone who passes you by. Also the online Overwatch adds another dimension to the game by trolling other players.So cool. I love the game especially on the awesome ps4!